Living in Paradise
by BellaNessieCullen
Summary: Canon to my Renesmee Trilogy. 100 years after Forever After, spoiler free. Follow Edward and Bella as they live on their island, with their newest moon pool daughter, Elizabeth. Explanation in A/N.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is not all human, it is canon to the twilight saga and to my previous stories, it's only going to be a short series, maybe only 10 chapters. I will try and keep this spoiler free for Forever After but there may be some clues about the future and what will happen in that story, so you have been warned. It's just a segment of Edward and Bella's life, a hundred years on. It's not imperative to read my previous stories but I suggest you visit my blog and read up on 'The Luna Bambini' (the tab along the top) to explain how Edward and Bella have more than just Renesmee. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions.**

**Blog: BellaNessieCullen. Blogspot. Com**

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**Bella Cullen**

I watched as she ran through the sand away from the house, something she did every morning, in her bare feet, since she refused to wear any kind of shoes. My youngest daughter.

Elizabeth Esther Cullen, born 15th August 2130.

She was beautiful, Edward and I had her on Isle Isabella, an island we'd been living on, away from civilisation for forty years. I loved it here, it was like there was no time here, there was night and day and land and water and heat and rain. We had rainstorms that would flood the island and we had scalding hot days with not one drop of water discoverable on land. We lived here with our daughter, Elizabeth. She was a moon pool child, just like our son Eddie, who was living with his wife, Chloe, in Europe.

I never imagined having more children, especially after the birth of my eight grandchildren and the generations that came after them. Living on an island, only leaving it to hunt once a week cut me off from them though, a hundred years after having my first children I was craving their childhood back. I wasn't the only one and it didn't take me long to convince my husband Edward to visit the Moon Pool again. We had been back a few times since we lived here, but never to make another child. It wasn't until about 8 months ago that I found the courage to ask him for another child. It had been so long since we had had our own or even been in the lives of children. The last children I was close to were my own great grandchildren, after that they seemed to spread out, our descendants becoming uncountable and even more human every generation. The youngest generation I knew about were my great great great great grandchildren, Carlisle was adamant he would keep track of our extending family, they all knew him, they all knew what their family was, their non-aging ancestors still living in different parts of the world; the origin of their wealth. Anyone with Cullen and Black blood were wealthy, not one of them went forgotten; Carlisle made sure of that. I hadn't met the youngest two generations, every generation seemed to be further and further away from me, the vampire gene was completely diluted, there were no more hybrids born into the family, Jacob's gene still lived on though, the families that remained in Washington still bore sons that turned into wolves. Carlisle and Esme still owned the house in La Push; they still lived there unless they were scouring the earth for our descendants. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett all lived in Italy, close to each other and their children. Renesmee was with Jacob still in the USA, although they were not in Washington anymore, they stayed within the country so Jacob was easily accessible if he was ever needed at home. Their children had spread out around the country too but they had all remained in the Americas which was nice, our granddaughter Sarah was living in Brazil with her husband still so they often came to see us.

"Nessie will be here in an hour, don't take too long" I called after my daughter. Elizabeth, or as Edward and I called her 'Beth' for short was physically 6 years old. She was only 6 months old which meant she was a quarter of the way through her growing. I knew it would pain me to see her turn two, it would mean she was fully grown and free to do as she liked but it was life and I was making the most of it whilst I had her. She was proof I was able to have more children in another hundred years if I got restless again.

Beth had yet to meet her older siblings, she knew of them though, we told her a new story every night of her brother and sister or of the Cullen family. She knew everything about who she was, that she already had possibly a hundred nieces and nephews. We didn't scare her of tales of the Volturi or the threats our family had seen over the years, we reminded her of how powerful her family was and how lucky she was to be so protected. The first member of our family to meet Beth was Esther, she had come not long after Beth was born, being the original moon pool child she could sense every time a new one was born, she had come only a day after Beth's birth to congratulate us. Esther stayed for a few weeks and Beth adored her completely, they were the only two female Luna bambini and I think Esther was glad that she finally wasn't the only one. She left us to return back to Italy. We invited all our family to come and meet her but only Alice, Jasper, Esme and Carlisle had managed to come so far, I understood my family were busy and they would have plenty of time to meet her in the future.

We invited Eddie and Nessie to the island for a vacation and it was only now that they were able to come. Nessie was due to arrive with Jacob within the hour; Eddie was arriving the day after with Chloe. I often wondered how my older children would react.

I walked away from the window where I had watched Beth run from and into the living area. Edward was sitting on the couch with a book in his hands. I walked over to him and leant over the back of the couch to wrap my arms around his neck. I kissed his shoulder and neck.

"Im trying to read" he groaned. I giggled and kissed him again. "Beth gone on her run?" he asked.

"Mhmm" I mumbled as I reached his jaw bone, he put his book down in less than a second, and using his vampire speed he pulled me over the back of the couch and onto his body. I laughed at the speed he did it and closed the distance between us to kiss him passionately.

Being with Edward was just the same as it ever was, I thought after a hundred years things would be different, and they were, being with him was like a very well-rehearsed dance, it was familiar and natural, but it still felt as hot as it was at the beginning. His touch still burnt desire in my stomach; it still made me want to be with him every second of the day. When we first decided to come here, to live here, we had gone days doing nothing but staying in our bed. Only moving to hunt and allow the cleaners to tidy the house before we were back there again. We had everything imported, books and games and anything we wanted. When we decided to have Elizabeth, I went online and ordered every baby, toddler and child essential we would need until she was fully grown.

"Beth will be back soon, I told her she couldn't stay out long" I told Edward pulling away when he tried to lift my shirt over my head. He pouted and I giggled at him before standing up to straighten out my clothes. It was just in time because Beth came through the back door, she was panting as she always did, and she went straight to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of blood. We kept them so we didn't have to go to the main land so often, it was mostly for Elizabeth, as a child she had to have blood more than Edward and I did.

"Are you going to change your dress before Renesmee gets here?" I asked her. She nodded and recapped the bottle before putting it back in the fridge.

"Which dress do you think I should wear momma?" she asked skipping towards me, she leapt into my arms and I held her on my hip. She was wearing a blue dress but it was dirty already from her run.

"Let's go look" I told her and carried her to her bedroom. Her bedroom was very simple. It reminded me of Renesmee's when she was a child, it was mostly white but instead of blue, Beth had yellow accents around the room, the canopy was a light yellow, her bed covers had yellow hearts on a white background, her dressing table accessories were yellow, photo frames too; holding pictures of her with the family she had met. Yellow was Beth's favourite colour which is why we picked out a yellow and white dress for her to wear to meet Nessie.

She only had summer dresses, shorts and t shirts. She had never experienced cold and never even seen snow. The older she got the less the heat affected her, she just liked the feel of the dresses on her skin, on the outside she was a complete girly girl, the opposite of me, she loved getting new packages from her Aunt Alice, Alice would send her dresses every month and in return I took a picture every day of Beth so Alice could see her niece grow up. I also forwarded these pictures to Esme and Carlisle as they would often send gifts for her too. Although she adored her dresses and dolls she also loved exploring, swimming and running. Every morning she leaves the house after shes woken up, usually in the clothes she'd worn the day before, and run down the beach, she said she liked feeling the sand in the morning before it got hot. She liked having a morning swim and climb. It was like her morning ritual, something she had done since she was able to swim at a month old. She would spend all day exploring the island; she knew it by now like the back of her hand. She knew it better than even Edward and I did. We allowed her out alone because there was nothing on this island we didn't know about. We were the only people here, the cleaners came on set days and we greeted them as they left their boat. They never saw our daughter, only cleaned up after her. We made sure she was out of the house doing her own thing, climbing, running or swimming whilst they were here. She loved the island, she had never known civilisation and I planned to keep it that way until she was fully grown, if she wanted to live on the main land, go to the US or Europe, that was her choice. But I always wanted to live here when Nessie was a child, keep her from the dangers of the real world as she grew up and I never had the chance. I did with Beth and I was making the most of it. She only ever went into Brazil if we had to hunt, but even then Edward and I tried to make sure there was enough blood in the house for her to survive on. She was safe here and it was her island more than ours. It was her home, her sanctuary and our paradise.

"I can't wait to meet Nessie" Beth smiled, looking in the mirror. "Do I look like her?" she asked. She had seen pictures of Nessie and Eddie, both as children and as adults so the question shocked me.

"A little bit, yes. Your hair is wavy like hers, and long too. She has long hair" I told her. "But you look more like Eddie I think. Your face and your eyes are daddy's when he was human"

"So I look more like Daddy than Nessie?" she asked me, looking at me in the mirror.

"Yes I suppose you do, maybe when you're older you'll be more like Nessie, you've still got a bit of growing to do. Remember when you were a baby and your hair was red? That was like Nessie's but im afraid your exposure to the sun has made it blonde now" I told her. She tugged on her hair.

"So I would have red hair if we didn't live here?"

"Probably" I told her truthfully. No one in my family was blonde, and Edward had said he didn't remember any one from his human family being blonde. Since Elizabeth was born with Edward's bronze hair we assumed that it was the sun that had lightened it. I loved Beth's hair; it had many shades, not just blonde. "But I love your colour, it's beautiful" I assured her and knelt down next to her.

"I want brown hair like you" she said and turned to look at me, she took a piece of my hair in her little hands and held it up next to her own.

"When you're older it might darken" I told her.

"I hope so" she said wistfully, a familiar tone her voice made when she had got bored of the conversation.

"They've just pulled up on the Island" Edward announced from the living area. I smiled down at my daughter.

"Ready to meet your big sister?" I asked her, she nodded and smiled widely at me. I stood up and held my hand out, she took it and we left her room.

Edward opened the front door and Renesmee immediately fell into his arms.

"Ive missed you daddy" she told him. I held Beth back, she was itching to run to her sister I could see it but I wanted to give Edward just a second with his daughter.

"I missed you too sweetheart" he told her, kissing her forehead. She pulled away so Jacob could greet Edward too.

"Where's mom?" she asked as Edward and Jacob embraced. She put her handbag on the table by the door and walked into the living area. I dropped Beth's hand so she was free to run.

"Nessie!" Elizabeth sang and ran straight to Renesmee, hugging her knees.

"Hello" Nessie laughed, clearly confused. She frowned at me.

"That's your surprise" I told her with a smile, coming over to them. I had told her that there was a surprise waiting for her on the island, I didn't want to give it away until she got to meet her sister.

"A child?" she laughed.

"A sister" I corrected.

"Sister?" Nessie gasped but I could see her make the connection, looking down at Elizabeth, she was the spitting image of Eddie, just with long brown and blonde hair and dark green eyes. Edward and Jacob came up to us then, Jacob standing with Renesmee, rather shocked to see her with a child, Edward walked over to me side.

"Elizabeth Esther Cullen, we just call her Beth" Edward told her. Elizabeth smiled up at her sister, still hugging her legs.

"Esther?" she asked.

"We thought it was appropriate, given she wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Esther" I smiled.

"I think it's really sweet" Nessie agreed before turning to her sister.

"Hello angel" Nessie smiled at her, she bent down and lifted her up. It was clear Beth loved her sister; she was always asking when she'd get to meet her. Now she was finally getting a chance, she had already put Nessie under her spell; it was obvious Nessie already loved her sister from the very first hug. I smiled.

"We told her about her big brother and sister. Shes been waiting to meet you" I told her. Nessie smiled at me, Beth was now hugging her tightly.

"Jake" Beth said then, she reached for Jacob who was standing behind Nessie watching. We had of course told her all about Jacob and Chloe and she was just as excited to meet them as her siblings. He smiled at her and she held her arms out towards him. He looked at Nessie for permission before taking her. He threw her up in the air before catching her into a hug. She giggled and quickly pulled back to look at him.

"Again" she giggled. He threw her up higher this time and she laughed louder.

"Jake" I mumbled, I knew he wouldn't drop her but my heart still felt like it was doing flips inside my chest.

"It's ok Bells, I used to throw my own kids higher than my own height" he laughed.

"I know I was just as nervous then as now"

"It's fine he's never dropped them mom, 6 kids, 10 grandkids and 20 great grandchildren later and he's thrown every one of them" she laughed. I smiled; I'd like to see Jake with his great grandchildren. I had only met them with Edward; maybe Carlisle should arrange a full family meeting. I mentally laughed at the thought; that was a lot of Cullen's.

For the rest of the day, Beth spent most of her time with Jake, always asking him to play with her.

"Baby you have to let Jake breathe" I told her, she frowned at me

"He can breathe fine" she answered, clearly not understanding what I meant, we all laughed.

"Who's great idea was it to have her then?" Nessie asked us.

"Your mother" Edward answered.

"I missed having my babies around and I don't see my grandkids or great grandkids" I laughed.

"Shes cute, in a very Nessie mixed with Eddie way" Jake said.

"I was that annoying to you?" Nessie laughed.

"You were never annoying to me, neither is your baby sister. It's nice to have a child around again" Jake said just as Beth rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. I smiled at them.

"Miss having kids Jake?" I asked and he nodded to me.

"I can't wait for Eddie to meet her" Nessie says. "She's so much like him, although where did she get the green eyes?"

"Your father" I told her and sat next to my daughter.

"My eyes were that colour as a human"

"Aw, that's nice, we're not all brown eyed then" she smiled and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"It's really warm here" she sighed.

"I suppose so, after forty years I've got used to it" I laughed.

"It's humid" Jacob agreed.

"That's because you live in snow" Beth said, "I like it here, it's just the right temperature"

"You've never known any different child" Jacob laughed.

"One day I'll get to see the snow" she told him.

"Are you allowed off the island?" Nessie asked.

"To hunt yes. Momma and Daddy don't take me into the city though"

"Why not?" Nessie asked me then. I shrugged.

"Because im selfish" I told her.

"No you're not" Nessie said immediately.

"I wanted to give you this childhood, I wanted you to feel free the way Beth does. To live on an island, to be safe to explore and be a kid. I wanted you to have no worries, for you and your brother to live and grow at your own pace and I couldn't give it to you; not the way I wanted to. I thought about how much I wanted to live here with you all those years ago and then I knew that I wanted another baby, I wanted to give someone what I was going to give to you. We don't take Beth into Rio because I just want to keep her young as long as possible. Its selfish but I want to keep her free just a bit longer, she'll have plenty of time when shes older to see the real world, shes got forever to do all the things you can do out there. For now I just wanted her to have a childhood." I explained, Nessie hugged my arm.

"I think it's amazing what you're doing for her. I completely agree with you and I think she'll be extremely grateful when shes older. Not every child gets to live on their own island." Nessie told me with a smile. I smiled back.

"Im glad you think that"

"I don't want to live on the main land momma, I love living here" Beth told me.

"See" Nessie smiled. "The day she asks you to go to the main land and you say no is the day you should start feeling selfish, Beth only wants to be here, and I don't blame her"

"I want to show you my den! And my lake and my waterfall and my favourite place to pick flowers and my-" Beth began to rant.

"Beth, they're here for two weeks, you'll have plenty of time to do all that." Edward interrupted her.

"You'll meet your brother tomorrow. Maybe you can take them all tomorrow" I said to her.

"Chloe outdoors?" Jake laughed.

"Well... Maybe she can take Eddie" I laughed.

"What can we do today then?" She pouted.

"Well why don't you show me your bed room?" Nessie asked holding her hand out towards Beth.

"Ok!" She exclaimed and climbed off Jacob's lap and took her sisters hand. I decided to follow them so I could take a picture of them together; I grabbed the camera and walked in.

"Your room is a lot like mine when I was little" Nessie said.

"It is?!" Beth exclaimed, she was clearly happy at this thought.

"So what do you do all day?" Nessie asked; looking at the picture of Beth and Esther.

"I climb or I run or I swim or I play or I read or I have school" Beth answered. Nessie sat down on Beth's dressing table chair as Beth sat on her bed.

"Does dad teach you school?" she asked.

"Yep every other day" she said. "I don't really like them days, as much as I love daddy I would much rather be outside."

"He tried to teach you outside and you kept getting distracted" I laughed. Beth shrugged. "Want a picture with your sister?" I asked her. She nodded and pulled Nessie by her hands over to the bed.

"Jakey!" She added. Jacob appeared at the door.

"I could have sworn that was Nessie calling me" he frowned.

"Yeah, if I was a 5 year old child" Nessie said rolling her eyes.

"That's what I mean, blast from the past. What's wrong princess?" he asked.

"Picture!" Beth exclaimed and patted the bed next to her. I waited for him to sit down before I took the picture of the three of them together.

"So what about friends? Do you have any?" Nessie asked Beth.

"Of course I do" she told her. "I have animal friends, birds mostly and fish"

"You have fish friends?" Nessie asked with a frown. Beth grinned at her.

"Mermaids"

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**Thanks for reading! Picture of Beth on my blog.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews, so nice to see the familiar names from my Renesmee trilogy. Really glad you liked the first chapter. **

**Ronnie: Yes I did edit the picture, I used Adobe Photoshop CS4**

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**Edward Cullen**

"Beth, it's time to go to bed sweetheart" I told my daughter as I entered her room. She was dressed in her pyjamas and sitting cross legged on her bed, Nessie was behind her, Beth's hair in her hands as she braided it. I smiled at my daughters, I was glad Nessie got to see Beth as a child, this was something I never thought I'd see. Nessie with a little sister, I had seen her with Chantelle but Beth was blood related to Nessie and it warmed my heart to see them so close after only one day together.

"Im nearly finished" Nessie said with a smile at me. I walked over to them and sat next to Beth.

"Can Nessie tell me a bed time story?" she asked me.

"Sure, if she has imagination enough to think of one you won't get bored of" I laughed. Beth was a lot like Nessie as a child, she was already bored of the story books in our house. I tended to just make one up in my head every night.

"Why don't you tell us one? Tell me more about your mermaid friends" Nessie said, she tucked the braid over Beth's shoulder and moved over to the head of the bed. Beth followed and got under the covers. Nessie and I were either side of her now.

"Well momma doesn't like me playing with them but daddy doesn't mind do you?" she asked. I shrugged.

"They would never hurt you, I think you need friends. If they're fish then they're fish"

"Are they the same as the one we met in La Push?" Nessie asked me.

"Yes" I replied, I knew what she was referring to.

"They can have legs, if they're on ground. I show them around the island, but they're not supposed to use their legs until they're 16" Beth said.

"What?" Nessie asked.

"I have 4 friends. 3 of them are 16 already but Lexi is only 10, shes not supposed to use her human legs. They're not allowed out of the sea until they're 16 but she does so she can play with me." Beth told her sister.

"Seriously?" Nessie gasped. When we first met mermaids nearly 70 years ago we only met one girl, My granddaughter, Nessie's oldest daughter, Sarah had seen her in the ocean when she was swimming with Nahuel, she had been perched on a rock when she met her again but never had human legs. She never even mentioned that she had legs so I knew Nessie was surprised hearing it now.

"Nina, Arya, Elle and Lexi. They're only allowed in the real world once they're 16. The transformation is really cool it's like a shimmer and then they have legs. It's awesome. They talk in their heads too, like you do and daddy." She wasn't making proper sense but I knew Nessie understood.

"That is kind of cool. Im glad you have friends Beth" Nessie smiled. "And if dad says they're ok, they must be" she laughed.

"Lexi doesn't understand much about the human world, it's like talking to an alien sometimes, the other girls have been into the human world so they understand things but it's funny with Lexi when she didn't know what shoes were. Nina said they don't have human lessons until they turn 15. So they're ready by the time they're 16. They also only have four letters in their name, they don't know any names with more letters, it's really funny but I have four letters so I fit in just fine"

"You have 9 letters" Nessie smiled

"Beth is only four" She frowned.

"Did they teach you how to swim?" Nessie asked changing the subject; she wasn't even going to start that argument with her.

"No daddy did. But im a lot stronger swimmer because I swim with them and the dolphins"

"You have quite a life here don't you?" Nessie smiled.

"I love it here"

"You don't know any different" she said and kissed Beth on the forehead.

"I think it's time to go to sleep now" I told my daughter. She frowned at me, the frown that made her look a lot like Bella.

"It's school tomorrow isn't it?" She asked me. I smiled at her.

"Only for a little bit, you get to meet Eddie tomorrow, I wouldn't want you to spend all day in school when he's here, it's not every day you get to meet your big brother" I told her, she smiled widely.

"Thanks daddy" she said with a yawn. "I guess I'll go to sleep now"

I kissed her forehead and tucked her under the covers. Nessie climbed off the bed and walked out the door with me.

"I love you princess" I told her.

"Love you too daddy and love you Nessie" she said but Nessie was already out the door. Nessie was smiling at me a few feet away.

"I thought I'd be jealous but im really not. I can see how much she loves you. Im glad someone else got to have my daddy after I grew up" Nessie told me. I smiled at her and pulled her into a quick hug as we walked to the living room. I kissed her forehead too.

"You'll always be my little girl. No matter how many more centuries we're alive and how many more children your mother and I have."

"Too right. Im the first born." She laughed as we reached the others sitting in the living room. Bella was smiling at us.

"I think I'll head to bed too, the jet lag is really getting to me" Nessie said pulling away from me.

"Alright" Bella said and hugged her daughter. "It's really good to see you again" she told her.

"You too momma" she returned her hug and pulled away. "Night daddy" she said then hugging me again.

"Goodnight" I told her and kissed her head again. "I love you princess" I told her with a wink. She giggled.

"Love you too daddy" she told me and turned to the spare room that her and Jacob were staying in. Jacob followed with a quick hug to Bella and a tap on my shoulder. I turned to Bella who was smiling at me.

"What?" I asked with a smile.

"Nothing. Im just really happy right now" Bella told me. I took a step towards her and she stood up from the couch. I took her in my arms to kiss her and she responded with eager anticipation.

The night was quick; before I knew it I could hear Beth climbing out of her bed and getting dressed. She was sleeping less and less, I knew as a moon pool child she didn't need the full 12 hours like a normal child but she was barely sleeping 7 now.

"Child number 3 is already up" Bella grumbled and moved in my arms.

"It was your idea to have her" I laughed.

"I know" she replied and climbed out the bed to get dressed. I watched her with my arms behind my head. "Get up. Eddie will be here any minute" She mumbled and left the room. I did as she said with a frown.

"Are you in a bad mood?" I asked her when I found her in the kitchen.

"No" she responded, she was cooking breakfast for Jacob and Nessie, I took the pan off her that she was cooking eggs in so I could adjust them to my personal recipe I knew Nessie loved.

"You are" I mumbled, she was being short with me and I had no idea why. "Was it something I did?" I asked. We had a perfectly normal night, we read a bit, she did her homework for her online course she was doing and we finished it off with a few hours in bed before we knew Beth would be waking up.

"Good morning momma" Beth chimed, "good morning daddy."

She walked over to the breakfast bar table and Bella handed her a bottle of blood.

"Good morning Elizabeth" Bella said. Beth frowned at her mother then looked over at me; I shook my head in response, hoping she understood not to say anything. She did. Beth took the cap off and started to drink the blood.

"What are you doing?" she asked us.

"It's called cooking Beth" I told her.

"Oh! This is the food humans eat? I remember this from our human study class" she said picking up an egg and tossing it in the air. She caught it easily.

"Yes." I told her and put the freshly cooked eggs on two plates, just in time for Nessie and Jacob's door to open.

"Good morning" Jacob grumbled. "I hate early mornings" he sighed.

"Er Jake?" Bella asked.

"Mhmm?" Jacob mumbled sitting on a stool next to Beth.

"Aren't you going to put clothes on?" She asked with a laugh. Jacob was just in shorts.

"No. Unlike you I can actually feel the heat of this place, combine that with my body heat and Nessie's I was sweating all night. I literally got out of bed in the middle of the night and lay on the floor for a bit" Jacob said grabbing a plate of eggs and a fork.

"Er Jake? Didn't you have your honeymoon here?" Bella asked. "You're acting like you've never stayed on one of these islands before."

"Yes Bella I did have my honeymoon here but honestly I didn't do much sleeping back then, the air con was on a lot higher when we were in the bedroom" Jacob said with a wink.

"Ugh I didn't need to hear that" Bella groaned turning to finish the pancakes.

"I didn't need the visual Jacob" I growled at him, he laughed.

"Sorry" he said and took a forkful of eggs and put them in his mouth.

"What are you scarring my little sister with now?" Nessie said coming into the room with a long white summer dress on. She looked beautiful.

"Nothing, he was just talking about your honeymoon" Beth said. Nessie blushed.

"Why?" she glared at Jacob. He laughed.

"Im just saying how much warmer it is when we sleep under the covers and with clothes on"

"Jacob" she scowled at him. Beth looked up at him innocently with a confused frown on her face.

"Why wouldn't you have clothes on in bed?"

"Yeah Jake. Why wouldn't you?" I asked him, prompting him to answer the 6 year old. He just shoved more eggs in his mouth.

"Ignore him sweetheart. Just don't listen to him." Nessie said, her hand going through Beth's hair.

"My hair is really curly today" Beth exclaimed.

"It is. I told you the braid would work" Nessie smiled and sat down next to her.

"Can I go on my run momma?" Beth said then, recapping her bottle.

"No sweetie. Your brother will be here any minute" Bella told her, Beth frowned.

"But I always go on my run"

"You can after; you can take Jacob with you. He needs to work off those eggs he's just eaten." Bella said. Jacob frowned at her; he looked down at his abs and patted them with his hand.

"Nope im good" he grinned at her. Bella rolled her eyes.

"I think Beth would love to see you as a wolf Jake" I told him

"Oh yes! Please run with me as a wolf!" Beth exclaimed. He sighed.

"I suppose" he answered just as I heard a speed boat reach the shore. I smiled at Beth; I knew she was excited to meet Eddie.

"Are they here?" Beth asked.

"Yes" I said and walked around the kitchen counter. "Stay here Beth, like yesterday" I told her. Bella took Beth in her arms.

"But im not dressed right" I heard Beth moan.

"You're fine" Bella reassured her just as I stepped out of the house. I ran over to the dock to meet my son and his wife.

"Dad!" Eddie shouted when he saw me, he quickly tied the boat to the dock and leapt out, he ran up the dock to greet me. We collided into a hug just as Chloe climbed out of the boat. She lifted the bags out quickly and ran over to us. Eddie pulled away so I could hug Chloe. Eddie went to get their bags and Chloe and I pulled away so we could start walking.

"Really good to see you dad" Eddie smiled at me.

"Missed you too" I told him with a grin.

"I can't wait to see Nessie, it feels like forever" Chloe sighed wistfully.

"So what's new?" Eddie asked me as we reached the house.

"Oh you'll see" I smiled at him, careful not to give it away in my head. I opened the door and Beth came running towards us.

I can truly say I didn't expect what happened next. Eddie dropped the bags immediately and lifted Beth into his arms and into a hug. They held each other tightly as if they were old friends reuniting.

"Eddie this is-" I went to explain but he cut me off.

"I know who she is" he told me, holding his sister tightly. "I knew the second we got on the island there was another moon pool child here. The second I saw her I knew she was my sister" he explained. She pulled back and they gave each other a kiss as if they had known each other all along. Beth smiled at her brother.

"Shes beautiful" Chloe said now she had finally got to see her. Beth then reached towards Chloe like she did with Jacob the day before. Chloe was shocked.

"It's ok, take her, she only wants to say hello" Eddie smiled at his wife and handed Beth over. Chloe carefully took Beth from his arms and held her on her hip. Beth smiled at Chloe and hugged her neck.

"Im so glad I get to meet you" Beth said. It was Chloe that pulled away and put Beth on the floor. She was smiling widely.

"You're definitely a Cullen aren't you? Look at you" Chloe said with an adoring smile, she tucked Beth's hair over her shoulder and stroked her cheek. "If you had dark hair and brown eyes I'd say you were Eddie." she laughed. Beth smiled at her in response and took Eddie's hand. They had an immediate connection; Eddie and Beth were already like a well-oiled machine. It was incredible to watch and to see how their minds thought. Eddie knew her straight away, he didn't even question before he hugged her the way he'd hug Nessie. "What's your name?" Chloe asked her.

"Beth" she answered her.

"For Bethany?" Chloe asked.

"No Elizabeth" Beth told her.

"Oh! Wow, I wouldn't have guessed, that's a beautiful name" Chloe smiled at her.

"Elizabeth Esther" Bella added.

"Aw!" Chloe exclaimed. "That's perfect; she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Esther"

"Exactly" Eddie smiled and kissed the top of Beth's head.

Chloe and Eddie then went over to greet Bella, Nessie and Jacob.

Beth was perched on Eddie's hip when he hugged Nessie. All three of them hugged each other, and I looked over to Bella to see her smiling proudly at them, I pulled her into my side. Whatever bad mood she was in before had evaporated. I knew how much she wanted to see this moment, all our children together and I smiled at how much they loved each other. I turned to smile at my wife at my side; she wrapped her arms around my waist and sighed slightly. I could see how fiercely and irrevocably she loved all three of them. I kissed her forehead, trying to contain my own emotion, I felt so unbelievably blessed at this moment, a beautiful wife and three amazing children. I never knew meeting Bella we ever had hope of having 1 child, never mind 3.

I looked over to smile at Chloe who had her cell phone out taking a picture of them hugging.

"So what is your ability?" Chloe asked when Beth pulled away from her siblings.

"What?" Beth asked.

"Shes probably a shield like me and my mom" Eddie said as he put her down.

"I'm a what?" Beth asked.

"We haven't had a chance to see if she has an ability" Bella told him.

"Oh she does, there's no doubt about it. It's just shes been so wrapped up in cotton wool she hasn't had a chance to see her own power" Eddie said, he knelt in front of her.

"We need Zio" Chloe said.

"He can't leave Italy" Eddie sighed. "I could try to find out" He placed his hands on the side of her face. "Esther is better at doing this than me"

Eddie closed his eyes. I sighed in frustration that I couldn't see what he was doing in his head. I could only see Beth's.

I didn't really know what Eddie was doing so it shocked me when Beth let out a scream and Eddie got thrown back. I saw in her head he actually used part of his shield to shock her, it wasn't a lot, nothing that would really hurt her, it was just enough to get a reaction out of her.

"Eddie!" Chloe yelled and ran over to him.

"Talk about defensive ability" Eddie gasped.

Beth stood there shocked, she started crying immediately. Nessie went to pick her up but she shook her head.

"Daddy" she cried, turning and reaching for me, I picked her up and held her in my arms.

"It's ok" I assured her with a hug.

"I didn't mean to do that" She cried to me, she thought she was in trouble.

"I know you didn't, you're not in trouble sweetheart." I told her as I took her over to Eddie as he stood up.

"Sorry Beth, I couldn't tell you what I was doing or I wouldn't get a reaction out of you. I thought you were going to have a shield or something. I had no idea that would happen" he told her, she had her head on my shoulder; she tilted it so she could see his face in front of us.

"Im sorry I hurt you" she said quietly.

"You didn't. At least now we know" he said with a smile.

"I want to go on my run now" Beth said lifting her head to look at me. she had had enough and she just wanted to clear her head.

"Maybe you should take Eddie and Nessie with you" I mentioned.

"Yeah, just the 3 of you" Bella smiled at them.

"Ok" Beth said softly. I placed her on her feet and she took Eddie's hand before walking over to Nessie to take hers. She then started to pull them towards the back door. Bella, Chloe, Jacob and I followed them to the door and watched them walk in the sand away from us. Both Bella and Chloe took a picture as Nessie and Eddie swung Beth high in the air by her arms. I could hear her giggle as they lifted her. Beth was laughing as if nothing had happened. They started running then, still hand in hand out of our sight.

"She's amazing" Chloe said to us. "And she looks so much like Eddie"

"I think she looks like Holly as a child" Jacob mused.

"Yeah I can see that" I said to him.

"How is Holly?" Jacob asked then, turning to Chloe.

"Good, shes still in England and still love sick" Chloe said with a smile.

"Hope he's treating her well."

"Of course he is, he's a saint. I couldn't have asked for anyone better after what shes been through."

"Im sure one more boyfriend and Eddie would have had a seizure. She was quick to fall that one" Jacob laughed as we walked to the living room.

"Tell me about it" Chloe laughed. "Avia is just as quick. Shes not settled yet. Im getting worried"

"Don't be. I was over 100 before I found Bella. Not everyone gets to meet their mate in one life time. Most of you and your children were lucky." I told her.

"Yeah Izzy took a good few years to find who she wanted to stay with" Jacob said.

"And she doesn't even have the privilege of knowing if he's her mate. No such thing for an immortal human" I mentioned.

"Nope, it has been a while though; he's the father of her children." Jacob said. "If this isn't the one I'll be surprised."

"Being a hybrid they can be together forever" Bella said. "I hope they last too. I always worry about her and Avia"

I was fully engrossed in the conversation when I heard Nessie calling out in her mind. She was running along the beach with Eddie and Beth, except Eddie had a child in his arms. I realised it was Lexi, Beth's mermaid friend. As they reached the house Eddie laid her on the couch.

"Shes got legs" Bella frowned. "But shes asleep"

"Is she dead?" Beth asked, she had hold of Nessie's hand.

"No shes not" Chloe said, feeling Lexi's pulse. Chloe was a paediatric doctor and had been for nearly a hundred years now.

"Where is her tail?" Beth asked.

"I don't know sweetheart. I thought she could only have legs when she was awake" I told her.

"That's what Elle said yeah" Beth frowned. It was only a second before Lexi's eyes opened and a fountain of water came out from her mouth. She was spluttering and coughing as Chloe held her up and patted her back.

"Lexi are you ok?" Beth asked.

"Beth" she gasped. "I've been banished" she cried.

"What are you talking about Lexi?" she asked.

"They took away my tail. They said I have to live the rest of my life as a human" she cried.

"Why?" Beth gasped.

"Because I broke the rules and used my legs before I was 16" she said as she sobbed uncontrollably. Chloe hugged her, I could see how confused she was but she hugged the child anyway. Lexi was only 10 physically; Chloe didn't know she was a mermaid.

"What about your sisters?" Beth asked.

"I don't know. I don't know where they are" she cried harder into Chloe's tshirt. "I don't know what to do now. I don't understand your world. What am I supposed to do?"

We all looked at her helplessly, Bella and I wouldn't hesitate for a second to let her live with us, to raise her as our own daughter but I knew it wouldn't be enough for her. This was a little girl that had been shunned by everything she knew, she would be so completely lost being here.

I couldn't believe anyone would do this to a child. Where were her parents? I couldn't even begin to understand the world that lived in the ocean, it was completely out of our jurisdiction, we were rulers of this world but not theirs, they had their own law and their own leaders. We were helpless in our power. The best we could do was help her live in the human world.

There had to be something we could do for her. I just didn't know what.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took so long, I managed to finally get this updated, I should have it updated alongside Forever After from now on. This chapter has some spoilers for those that read my Forever After story, specifically about Matthew and his future, the story Bella tells won't be happening in Forever After, it happened in between Forever After and this story and this is the only time you'll hear about it probably until Lexi is an adult.**

* * *

**Elizabeth Cullen**

I saw my friend lying there on the couch and all I wanted to do was cry. Was she ok? How would she live a normal life? Would my momma and daddy let her live with us? I looked over to my daddy and he nodded to me. I held my sisters hand tightly. I felt safe in her presence, just like Eddie. They were so much like me, and I was so glad that we were friends already, I wondered about meeting my big brother and sister and whether they would like me or hate me for taking away our mommy and daddy's time away from them but they didn't seem to mind at all, they loved being with me and asking me questions, Nessie always wanted to hold my hand or hug me or carry me and I loved it.

"What do we do now?" I asked everyone my voice breaking with fresh tears in my eyes. Nessie squeezed my hand and opened her arms for me to step into, I did and she lifted me up, I hugged her, my head resting on her shoulder as I looked at my friend.

"Well Lexi, you have the offer to stay with us as long as you want. I realise you'll have a lot of adjusting to do, we'd be the best people to help you with that." My mom told her softly, Chloe was still hugging Lexi on the couch, Lexi was clinging onto her like a lifeline, she didn't even know Chloe, even I didn't know Chloe that well but it was so obvious Chloe was kind-hearted and adored children it made me wish she was my sister too, I guess she was in a sense.

"Why did this happen? Why would anyone do this to you? You're only a child" Nessie said sitting down with me still wrapped around her, I sat on Nessie's lap and reached for my friend's hand. She stayed with Chloe but took my hand in hers.

"My world isn't like yours. Beth, your family is so kind to you and lets you do what you want. Mine aren't like that, the Nelifia are very strict when it comes to children like us, there's a reason people think mermaids are a myth. We're the most discreet species in the world, we live at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, the humans don't dare swim that deep. Sure over the years they've caught glimpse's, children have been stupid and reckless enough to swim higher than we're supposed to, humans have seen us, but that's why we're myths because they can never find us again. Most children are sacrificed by their fathers if that happens, if a Nelifia is seen by a human and the Nel find out, they're sentenced to death." She explained.

"What's the Nel?" my momma asked her.

"The law, like the police but they create laws and they know everything, they're the most powerful set of mermaids in our world, there's only 12 at a time." Like the Volturi then I pondered in my head.

"So if you knew these people would kill you why did you play with me every day, you and your sisters?" I asked her.

"Because I didn't want to be left out, and I loved you. You're not like humans, you're different. This is the only reason why they didn't kill me; my father is in the Nel and refused to sacrifice me to the Nelifia gods. He banished me instead."

"How can anyone do that to their own child?" Eddie gasped. "It doesn't matter what my daughters did, if they murdered an entire town and went completely insane I would still never disown them or kill them. It wouldn't change a thing, I'd still love them"

"That's your culture, not mine. My kind has hundreds and thousands of children born every day. My family is small with only 6 children, it's really rare for boys to be born so couples have to have a lot of children to make sure they get at least one boy, my family have been lucky, we have 2 brothers. Some of my friends have from 20 to 30 siblings, that's the average, some children are only born to be sacrifices and if anyone puts a foot out of line they become sacrifices too." She explained.

"That's awful" Nessie choked. "That girl Sarah saw? The mermaid was she killed?"

"Probably" our dad told her. "She told Sarah she was in trouble, that was probably the last time she ever left the water"

"It's just how we live. We accept it, you let murderers and abusers live in prisons, you let them go free after certain number of years so they can kill again. Your world is much more awful" Lexi said.

"She has a point" Jacob said.

"Not children though!" my momma exclaimed.

"But people that _kill_ children." Lexi said. "To murder one of our own is the biggest crime of all; if it isn't a sacrifice to the gods it is punishable by mass sacrifice. If one murders someone their entire family is put to the gods. If the gods are forgiving the family lives and the murderer dies. It's not very often the family lives though"

"That's disturbing I don't think Beth should be hearing this" Chloe said although she didn't pull away from Lexi, she hugged her protectively.

"It's nothing the human world hasn't done in the past. No one is allowed to judge anyone." I told her.

"You're a very smart little girl aren't you?" Eddie asked me with a proud smile, I smiled back at him before turning to my friend.

"You can live with us. I'll teach you everything you need to know" I told her.

"So if you're a mermaid why do you speak English?" Chloe asked, she had no idea about Lexi, I had told Eddie and Nessie on our run but Chloe had no idea.

"We're taught human culture all through our childhood; I haven't even started the real lessons yet. I was taught by my sisters most things, we're born with the ability to speak and understand all languages. We have our own language too."

"Your name is human, if you don't mine me saying" Chloe frowned.

"I have two names, one in my native tongue, which I can't even do above water and the human name, my human name is Lexi, my sisters Elle, Nina and Arya and my brothers Ryar and Dany. When we turn 16 we're legally allowed to enter the human world and those are the names we use." She explained, I had heard all of this before but I knew for Chloe, Jacob and my siblings it was entirely new.

"What about your sisters? You said you didn't know where they were?" my daddy asked her.

"No I don't, they won't be in trouble, they're all over 16, they were allowed to come here but I didn't see them before I was banished."

"They'll come see you, I know it" I told her and squeezed her hand in mine, she smiled at me.

"I hope so. I miss my family" she said and she started to cry again.

"What is this!" she yelled in frustration.

"What Lexi?" I looked around frantically trying to find what she was talking about.

"This water that keeps coming out of my eyes, im leaking!" she said in frustration.

"Tears honey, you're sad so you're crying" Chloe told her.

"You leak water? What good is that?" she said with a frown and wiped the tears from her cheeks. I smiled at her.

"I suppose you can't really cry underwater" Chloe mused. Lexi shook her head.

"Why don't we go sit on the beach Lexi? Wait for your sisters, they'll come see you I know it" I told my friend. She nodded sadly. I stood up from my sisters lap and she moved from Chloe's, she paused before taking my hand.

"What's your name?" she asked Chloe.

"Chloe" she smiled at her.

"Will you come with me?" Lexi asked her shyly. Chloe nodded and gave her a warm smile. She took her hand and I took her other hand.

"Be back before dark, both of you" My mom told me and kissed my forehead. I nodded, that was always my curfew. There wasn't anything dangerous on the island but it gave my parents piece of mind before I went to bed.

"Daddy" I paused. Did I have to do school today?

"Of course not Elizabeth" he responded to me. I gave him a thankful smile and I led Lexi and Chloe out of the room. We ran out of the house together, at human pace to what I called the mermaid beach. It was the part of the island that I always met up with Lexi and her sisters. We sat down on the rocks and Lexi sat with her hands on her cheeks, staring out at the ocean.

"What's it like?" Chloe asked. "To live in the ocean?"

"I suppose it's beautiful, although I find the land much better, I took it for granted. We have cities and a population bigger than you can imagine, humans have only discovered 5% of the ocean. The 95% you have never seen is indescribable. Most of it is too dark for human eyes, our capital city, as you would call it sits in the deepest part of the ocean and its 2 thousand miles long but only 40 miles wide. That's JUST the city itself. There are materials, just like bricks and wood that we make our homes out of. Maybe I'll be able to draw it for you one day. Not that ive ever drawn anything" she laughed.

"That sounds amazing" Chloe gasped.

"Why is it too dark?" I frowned.

"It's uninhabitable for humans, it's too deep too, the pressure would kill anyone who tried to swim that deep and there's no sun at the bottom of the ocean Beth, we don't have eyes like you, we see everything down there as you see this island" she explained.

"Why are there some things you understand and some you don't?" Chloe asked her.

"Like I said, we have schools that teach us how to live in the human world, you've probably met a dozen of my kind in your lifetime, you just wouldn't have known. I am only 10 in human years. I still had another 6 years to learn."

"Human years?"

"I'm only 1 in my years. We live a lot longer than humans; we live 20 of our years, which is about 200 of yours. We have an entirely different concept of time"

Chloe, Lexi and I waited for hours, it had started to get dark and Chloe reminded us we had to get back.

"I'm hungry anyway" Lexi sighed sadly and stood up.

"Ok, we'll come back tomorrow, they'll come for you Lexi" I promised her, she smiled at me and took my hand as we ran back. Chloe went straight into Eddie's arms and I smiled at them, they were so cute together.

"They didn't show up" she explained.

"You can go back tomorrow" my mom explained and stood in front of Lexi and me and ran her fingers through our hair. "Now Lexi, are you hungry?" she asked. Lexi nodded enthusiastically. "I'm just making Nessie and Jake something to eat you're welcome to join."

"Don't you all eat?" she asked. My mom looked at her and shook her head slowly.

"Lexi don't you remember I told you we only drink blood, animal blood" I clarified.

"Oh yeah, sorry" she said. "Ok, I'll have some food" she said and walked over to where Nessie and Jake were. I smiled at them and ran over to my big sister, she opened her arms to hug me and she kissed my forehead. She reminded me so much of our momma; I bet she was an amazing momma to her children.

"So Lexi, have you thought about what you want to do now you're human?" Jacob asked her, she frowned.

"I haven't really thought about it. I guess I'll stay here" she said then looked at my parents.

"Of course you're welcome here darling" my father said and kissed her hair. She smiled slightly.

"It's the closest I'll ever get to home and I'll get to see my sisters I hope."

"We won't live here forever though, would you come with us to the main land?" my mom told her, she shrugged.

"I suppose" she said.

"We're not going anytime soon, but when you and Elizabeth are fully grown we'll probably end up going eventually"

"Oh yeah that will probably be fine. I don't know how I'm going to feel in 10 years"

"Then you need a name" Bella told her, she frowned.

"I have a name" she frowned.

"I know but Lexi is generally a nickname to humans, I thought it would be easier for you to have a full name, here we have 3 names. We'll get the legal documents ready for you but you need a full name. Do you understand?"

"Oh right you have surnames?" she said, saying the word surname like it was foreign.

"Right and middle names too, my name is Isabella Marie Cullen, but most people call me Bella. See? You could be Alexa or Alexandra Cullen if you like, and we'll just call you Lexi"

"Alexandra?" she asked.

"You sure she should have that name?" Eddie asked with a frown, there seemed to be something behind the name.

"Alexandra not Allesandra. Matthew won't mind" Bella told him. My family seemed to go quiet, I knew the name Allesandra all made them sad, she was the daughter of my cousin's son, I only knew the story of her, she had died long before I was born but I knew it had made a huge affect on the part of our family that ran the Volturi in Italy.

"I like that name, Allesandra" Lexi smiled.

"Well the English version of that name is Alexandra, we already have an Allesandra Cullen in the family" Bella explained.

"Did have" Nessie correctly sadly.

"Did?" Lexi asked as she started to eat the food my mom had given her.

"It's a long story" my mom told her.

"I think we have time" Lexi said with a smile. "Id like to hear it"

"Allesandra Cullen was the hybrid daughter of Matthew Cullen, he is the son of my sister's adoptive daughter and the leader of the Volturi" she began.

"Oh! I learnt about them, Aro was the leader and he had a son…. I can't remember his name but he died in a war soon after his son was born"

"Yes, that war was against us. Aro and the Volturi had done awful things to our family, when Nessie was a child we lived everyday as if it was our last, she was kidnapped twice and poisoned into a coma, they tried to marry her off and plagued her nightmares for years. We managed to win the war, wiping out most of the Volturi; the rest scattered and went into hiding for decades. We took Pancrazio, Aro's hybrid son into our family. He was only a child and didn't want to hurt people, we brought him up to be a Cullen and he loved us as much as we loved him, he was nothing like his father. He was the complete opposite. Pancrazio fell in love with another hybrid that lived in our family, Chantelle; she had been adopted by our sister Rosalie and her husband Emmett. Chantelle and Pancrazio were childhood sweethearts and ended up having two children, a daughter and a son. When their son, Matthew was 6 months old he was taken by the remaining Volturi, he wiped our memories so we couldn't even remember him. We didn't know he existed for years. Chantelle, his mother was starting to go crazy, at least so we thought, she claimed he existed but we didn't believe her, for years we told her that she was making it up and she had no son but she was right and I personally will never forgive myself for not believing her, we could have got him back for her much sooner, instead she missed all 7 years of his childhood and she would never get that back.

"Years later Matthew, a fully grown man and in charge of the Volturi had two children a son, Beniamino and later a daughter, Allesandra, he wanted his children to have both Italian and English names, being Benjamin and Alexandra but both of them went mostly by their Italian names since that's where they lived. Allesandra was only a baby, merely 7 months old which made her physically 5 years old when she was taken by people that were trying to rebel against the Volturi, the Volturi were new and although most people knew that Matthew was the grandson of Aro, they didn't believe he had what it took to lead the vampire world. They took Allesandra as a test, to see how far his loyalties went. The whole thing was a mess but of course Matthew went after his daughter and we all flew over to Italy to help him, we were sure to win and get her back but we never expected that we would end up losing Allesandra the way we did. As the fight broke out there was a huge fire going in the centre of the room, the building we were in was starting to collapse and the structure was falling but we were getting closer and closer to freeing Allesandra. She was tied up at the opposite side of the room, the fight only went on for a minute or so, we have many gifted vampires in our family and the attackers never stood a chance. Esther, Eddie and I were just walking through the room hand in hand, not one person was able to touch us with our shields. Fights were going on around us and we were centimetres from Allesandra when one of the concrete lintels fell onto her knocking her out and blocking out way. The fire had spread, and become out of control. Eddie, Esther and I started moving faster but as the fire reached Allesandra she was now surrounded by wood and it had set alight. She woke up screaming but there were so many things in the way of her, she had burned alive before we got to her and we were unable to bring her back. Her death sent Matthew into a downward spiral. He went cold, never showing emotion. I can't even imagine how he and his wife felt to lose their daughter like that. Matthew turned into a brutal leader, Pancrazio and Chantelle moved to Italy to be nearer to him, Pancrazio started leading the Volturi with Matthew and Pancrazio took over as the head leader, he became Aro in a sense that there were another two leaders, Matthew's son, Beniamino, became the third leader and they have ran the Volturi like that ever since, Ben became angry after his sister death, he wanted to kill everyone he saw that wasn't family. Pancrazio became Aro, Matthew Marcus and Beniamino Caius. Only Zio was brought up right, he leads the Volturi in a way that is very different to the original Volturi and it makes us very proud to think how well he turned out considering who his true father was, we brought him up right. Well Jasper and Alice did. They live in Italy too, helping Zio when he needs them. The Volturi are who they should be, led by Aro's descendents the way Aro intended. No vampire in our world dares to question them."

By the time my mom had finished explaining, Lexi had finished her food and had her head on her hands listening closely.

"So Matthew never had any more children" she asked.

"No, the death of Allesandra changed him; he is a completely different man."

"That's so sad" she exclaimed. "I want to be Alexandra, to honour Allesandra" she said. I smiled at her.

"I think that's a perfect name for Lexi, what about middle name?" Nessie asked her.

"Beth" she smiled at me.

"My full name is Elizabeth" I explained.

"Then Elizabeth" she corrected herself. I smiled wider at her.

"Alexandra Elizabeth Cullen it is" Bella smiled.

"I get to be a Cullen for real?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Of course you do, if you want to live here we'll have to get adoption papers, Edward and I will adopt you as our daughter"

"Thank you!" she squealed and hugged my mom.

"You're welcome sweetheart" she laughed and looked up to my dad, he nodded and went over to the phone, I don't know who he was calling but I heard him say Lexi's new name and then turn to look at us.

"Birthday?" he asked.

"We don't have birthdays like you do; we all turn a year older on the same day. It's the first day of the new year" she explained.

"1st January then" he said "that ok?"

"Sure" she shrugged and my dad turned back to the phone.

"I'm tired" Lexi frowned. "Thank you for the food Bella"

"You're welcome sweetheart. Beth want to show Lexi to your room? She can sleep with you until your brother and sister go and then we'll make up her own room"

"Ok!" I called, I was so excited to get a new sister, I knew I had only just got Nessie but she wasn't my age, I would be able to grow up with Lexi. We walked into my room and Lexi squealed loudly. I looked at her shocked.

"What-?" I was about to ask but she ignored me and ran straight to my bed.

"This is a bed!" she exclaimed. "It's so bouncy and soft! I've only seen visions of them, never touched one" she said with a huge smile on her face as she jumped up and down, she suddenly jumped to a lying position and put her face against it she gasped loudly. "It's so soft! I didn't know it was going to be soft!" she exclaimed, I laughed at her as she touched the bed.

"You don't have beds?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? At the bottom of the ocean, of course not, we sleep in shells. This is amazing!" She screamed and my family walked into the room.

"She's never seen a bed before" I explained with a laugh, my family smiled at the young girl jumping up and down.

"Maybe ill like it as a human after all" she grinned.

"well it's made for sleeping in not jumping on sweetheart" my mom said and walked over to her and held out her hands, Lexi took them and jumped off the bed to stand next to my mom, she smiled up at her.

"Sorry"

"That's ok" Bella laughed. "Let's see if we have any pyjamas that might fit you"

"If not we will in the storage" my dad said coming in. "want me to get the age 10 clothes?" he asked.

"Yeah we'll have to order some more for when Beth reaches that age" my mom said as she went through my pyjama drawer. The storage was a cabin not far from our house, it was full of clothes, clothes I didn't fit into anymore or were too big for me. My parents had bought 18 entire wardrobes when I was born, one for each year of my physical life. I would be 18 in just under 2 years and it was easier for them to have bought the clothes instead of waiting for shipments every time I grew.

My dad came back with 3 boxes with the label 'Aged 10' on the side of each one and placed them in my room, he and the rest of my family left us with my mom to get ready for bed.

I knew Lexi was sad that she wasn't a mermaid anymore but I was so glad that I got to show her our world and that she was going to officially be my new sister. I would show her everything and when we were both old enough we could explore the whole of the world together, go to Italy to see Allesandra's memorial, my parents told me she was scattered over a 6 foot tall statue of an angel it was surrounded by wild flowers that grew in various colours and that her mother laid teddy bears and dolls and all sorts of little girls toys around the angel, I also wanted to see my aunts and uncles and the Volturi, and see all my distant relatives and live where ever we wanted.

"Do you think you'll ever get to go back?" I asked her, we had said good night to my family and we were in bed ready to fall asleep.

"I don't know" she said sadly. "Probably not, I was let off lightly. I should be dead right now but I'm not, my dad is really powerful and he managed to get away with just banishing me. I doubt I'll be allowed back, ever" she said, her voice shaking.

"Being human isn't all that bad. You'll like it here, and you're my sister now too" I said and hugged her next to me she hugged me back, she was bigger than me but I felt older than her in some ways.

"I know" she said happily as I slipped into sleep, seeing my short life flash before my eyes.

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**The story of Allesandra was something that I actually dreamt about and its haunted me ever since so I knew I had to get it in one of my stories, since Mathew is still only a child in Forever After I knew I had to put it in this story, it also answers your questions about why so many of the Cullen's are in Italy and I always imagined Zio going back to lead, he just did it to save his son's sanity which I really liked the idea of. Hope you liked this chapter, I should be updating sometime next week.**

**Pictures of Allesandra and Lexi are on my blog.**


	4. Chapter 4

**There is now an Nelifia tab on my blog for those that are interested.**

**BellaNessieCullen. Blogspot. Com (remove the spaces)**

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**Renesmee Black**

I watched as my baby sister left with Chloe and Lexi for the third day in a row to sit on the beach all day. I frowned to myself in concern, I didn't know what they expected, if the mermaids were strict enough to banish her then what did Lexi think they had done to her sisters for aiding her to come see Beth every day? The thought disturbed me.

"She's only a child. She's hopeful they haven't hurt her sisters" my father answered me, his hand playing with my hair, I sighed and turned to hug him, he was initially shocked, I wasn't sure why but he pulled me tighter into me anyway and returned my hug.

I didn't realise until this week how much I missed being by my parents. Jacob and I mostly spend our time in the states but we had travelled the world over the past few years, seeing everything we wanted to see before we started a family. We never got to do that when I fell pregnant with my first son on our honeymoon so we took the opportunity after all our children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren had grown up.

"I missed you too" my father whispered into my hair. I closed my eyes as he held me, trying to memorise the moment and comparing it to every other hug he had ever given me in the past, he chuckled slightly.

"You'll always be my first baby girl" he winked, I smiled up at him.

"Too right" I giggled.

"You guys having more after Elizabeth has grown up?" Eddie asked coming up to us. "I want a brother" he grinned at our dad, Edward laughed, a real laugh, not a chuckle or a tickle, he was nearly keeling over laughing. "What?" Eddie frowned; I was smiling as I pulled away from our hysterical father.

"What's so funny?" I laughed at him, I couldn't help it, I had never seen my dad laughing like this before. He managed to stop laughing but still had a huge smile plastered on his face as he looked between me and Eddie.

"You are 122 years old with children of your own and you're asking for a little brother _now_?" he asked Eddie, his eyebrow raising, Eddie looked innocent.

"What?" he shrugged and looked down to his feet as if he was slightly embarrassed. "Part of me wants a brother, I always have. I had sisters growing up." He said and looked over to me, I had to admit I was about to break into a laugh too.

"Awww poor Edward. You were so deprived as a child" I joked and pulled his head to my chest to hug him, he was 6 foot 4 though, it didn't work very well. He pulled away from me and glared at my sarcasm.

"You had a sister and a brother I just had sisters!" he said. "And now I have another one, and I spend all my time with women."

"You have a son!" I laughed at him.

"So?! I want a brother!" he moaned like he was a 5 year old child.

"You had Jacob" Edward said as a matter of fact.

"He wasn't my brother, he was Nessie's"

"Ew dude" Jacob said joining the conversation

"You were. Until she hit puberty then all you wanted to do was put a baby in her" Eddie said with a wink. I slapped Eddie's arm and he laughed.

"We have Lexi now, your mother and I won't be having another one for another hundred years" Edward laughed. "Probably after your fourth round of kids" he winked at Eddie.

"Chloe and I felt obliged to carry on the family name, I had to have a son" he pouted.

"No you didn't" I laughed.

"Well you didn't name a son Edward!" he glared at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Because three Edward's would have been confusing back then. You had Teddy 30 years ago. Could you imagine what it would have been like if he was born when his sisters were and we were all still in La Push?" I laughed.

"I suppose, but we nicknamed him Teddy so it wouldn't get confusing" he shrugged.

"It still would have been too much, don't get me wrong I think it's really sweet that you had him but im glad you had him when our kids had grown up" I smiled at him.

"Yeah dude. Im not naming my kid Edward, sorry" he laughed. I glared at my husband, and so did Edward and Eddie. "What?" he cringed.

"Edward is the best name in the world" Eddie boasted.

"I wouldn't have thought twice about naming our son Edward, when we had our kids though I left if open for Eddie and Chloe. If we had named William, Edward or one of the twins he wouldn't have been Edward Cullen, he'd be Edward Black and that wouldn't really be passing on the name" I explained.

"Really? You wanted to name William, Edward?" he asked. I shrugged guiltily. I couldn't lie, it crossed my mind, I just thought it would have been better as a middle name instead.

"Huh" Jacob mumbled.

"What are you four talking about?" my mom said happily, she wrapped her arms around Edward's arm in a hug.

"Baby names" Eddie explained

"You're not pregnant are you Nessie?" my mom gasped.

"No" I laughed in response.

"I have more self-control, im not ready for my second round of kids yet" I winked at both my brother and my parents and started walking towards the couch.

"Will you ever have more?" Eddie asked following me to the couch, I sat down and rested my feet up.

"In the near future? Hell no. I like being child free, I mean sure I miss my children. Every day. But it's so nice not to have responsibilities." I smiled happily as Jacob towered over me; he had his eyebrow raised and his hands on his hips. "What?" I gasped. Was he angry at me for telling our family our future plans? "You said you liked being childfree" I frowned. He laughed as if I had completely missed the point.

"Im not glaring at you because you don't want more kids Ness" he chuckled. He bent down, his arms winding around my body and nearly threw me up in the air. I squealed as he caught me and replaced me on the couch, I landed on his lap and his strong arms wound around me, my squeal died down as he cuddled me into him. I saw my mom smiling at us as she sat on Edward's lap in the lounge chair.

"I miss this" my mom smiled at us. Eddie had squeezed onto the end of the couch Jacob and I were on; despite the fact there was an empty couch next to us. I reached out and he took my hand, he played with my wedding ring as we spoke to our parents.

"Me too, I miss teasing my sister" Eddie laughed, I rolled my eyes at my brother but I agreed with him, I missed having him around a lot. I wished we didn't have to leave.

"Well maybe next time you have to relocate you can move back to the US and live by us" Jacob grinned at Eddie.

"Yeah definitely, I miss home" he sighed still stroking my hand. I squeezed it and reached round to touch Jacob's face_. I want to hug my brother_. I placed in his head, he nodded and loosened his grip on me, allowing me to crawl from his lap and over to Eddie, he smiled widely when I sat on his lap and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me as we continued to talk with our family.

The afternoon went by so fast I didn't realise the time until I heard Jacob's stomach rumble, telling me he was hungry. It was nearly 8pm. Chloe would be back with the girls soon.

"Lexi hasn't eaten all day" Bella gasped. "Im not used to looking after a human child" he scolded herself.

"Lexi is fine Bella. Chloe got her to eat some of the island fruit around lunch time, she hasn't been hungry. They're on their way back now" Edward told her. My mom relaxed.

"Oh good" she sighed and headed to the kitchen.

"I'll come help momma" I said as I climbed off Eddie's lap and followed her into the kitchen leaving the men together. Bella and I began making spaghetti bolognaise. It was one of my favourites and I thought since Lexi had only been on human food for 3 days, she needed to taste as many things that were possible. We could hear the boys laughing in the living room and I tried to pay attention to what they were saying.

"It's so nice to see Jacob and Edward together like that" my mom smiled wistfully. I smiled back at her.

"In other words, when you were human you had no idea they'd ever become such close friends?" I asked her.

"No, I always had the idea but I thought it would be impossible. I knew them both separately as people and knew they'd get along if they weren't fighting over me" she chuckled.

"Well im glad it came true for you mom" I told her truthfully.

"Me too" she smiled as she transferred the pasta into the strainer and I continued to work on the sauce.

"Have you ever thought about what it would have been like if you chose Jacob?" I asked her then. I expected her to laugh or quickly answer no or push the subject away to avoid awkwardness but she didn't, she surprised me with her answer. All the times ive asked her this in the past or it has been brought up she and my father have always pushed the question away and said it didn't matter anymore.

"Once." She answered and eyed me carefully. I encouraged her to continue and jumped up on the counter as I waited for the sauce to cook. She shrugged. "I didn't like it though" she laughed. I smiled but didn't say anything to interrupt her. "When your father and I first decided to come live here, one night we were just talking and he asked me the question. It shocked me at first, Edward never likes to bring up the past, especially not that far into our past. We both knew it was always going to be me and him so we didn't feel the need to discuss what ifs" she began and sat on the island counter so she was opposite me.

"So you starting thinking about Jacob?" I asked.

"No, I imagined being dead. Which I would be now if I had picked Jacob. We'd have grown old together, probably had a bunch of wolf kids and be surrounded by our grandchildren or maybe great grandchildren as we died. It was quite a depressing thought" she explained. I smiled slightly, trying to imagine it. Of course I couldn't, not truthfully. I only saw myself with Jacob and I only saw Bella with Edward but I appreciated the thought of it.

"I don't think it's depressing. I think that's wonderful. If Jacob and I couldn't live forever there is nothing in this world id have wanted more than to grow old with him" I explained. My mom managed to smile slightly.

"I suppose I can't put myself in human's shoes anymore. The idea of not having forever is unthinkable to me, to have spent the last 100 years getting weaker and more fragile instead of being able to do whatever we wanted doesn't bear thinking about." This shocked me coming from my down to earth mother, I knew as a human she always wanted immortality and to live forever by my father's side but I always thought if she could chose she'd have made Edward human and they'd have grown old together.

"That was my ideal not Bella's. Your mother always wanted immortality. I was the one that wanted to grow old with her" Edward explained coming in, Elizabeth was holding his hand as they entered the room.

"Nessie!" she called and ran over to me, I jumped down from the counter to lift my little sister into my arms.

"And I take back everything I ever said. I am glad we have this life. I see my 124 year old daughter hugging my 6 month old. That's just not possible in the human world" my father smiled. "We're gifted and we should be thankful of that everyday"

"As for me and you Bells... we wouldn't have had nearly as cute kids" Jake laughed and came in to the room, he reached across the island counter and wrapped his arms around my mother's waist, causing her to squeal slightly as he pulled her backwards and into his chest before pulling her off the island and putting her on her feet. She laughed.

"Like I said, we'd be dead by now if I picked you"

"Why would you be dead?" Elizabeth gasped; I saw tears in her eyes at the mere thought of Jacob or our mother being dead.

"Oh no sweetie. Forget I said it. Jacob and I are just being silly" our mother said, moving from Jacob's side in a flash and appearing in front of me to caress Elizabeth's cheek.

"You're not going to die right Jakey?" she asked looking over to Jacob.

"Nope. Don't worry kiddo, I'll be around for a long time, just like you" he winked at her. Her face lit up into a smile.

"Good" she said and wrapped her arms around my neck tighter so her cheek was squashed against mine. I giggled and held her tighter to me. It was then Chloe and Lexi came in, Eddie greeted Chloe and Lexi climbed up onto one of the island chairs.

"Still no sign sweetheart?" my mom asked Lexi, appearing at her side and stroking her hair, she shook her head sadly. I let Beth down so I could start dishing up the food for Jacob, Lexi and myself.

"What do you think happened after you left?" Eddie asked her and sat opposite her. She shrugged.

"My family aren't like most families. We were really close. Most parents after having children let them go free after a few years. As soon as they're not physically dependant on their mothers most girls go off on their own, some chose to go through school to learn about being human and then as soon as they're 16 they set foot on land and never look back, others go off to live their life in whatever part of the ocean they desire. Only really important girls have to stay to be married off. I would have had a husband, my dad was in the Nel and that meant I was classed as high born, I already knew who my future husband would be, he was picked out for me the day I was born, just like I was picked for him. Most girls don't get that privilege though as there aren't nearly enough boys to marry off every girl. We're taught independence by the time we're physically 10 and like I said, most girls live on their own at that point but my family was different, I knew all my sisters and brothers, we were close. I still lived with my parents and my older siblings, our parents adored us and loved us in ways that the Nelifia have never seen before, or at least it's rarely seen. My dad fought so hard for me, most fathers would have accepted the consequences of my actions but my daddy didn't. He saved me, and I know he'd do everything in his power to help my sisters too. They'll come see me, I know it." She said. All I wanted to do was hug her and tell her everything would be ok. It was such an awful thing to happen to a child as young as her. It made me so sad to think about how she had been abandoned by her own kind.

"We'll keep going every day until they come to see you Lexi" Beth said as she hugged her friend. Lexi nodded and quickly wiped away her tears.

"Dinner is served!" I said happily trying to brighten the mood, Beth got off one of the stools to make room for Jacob and I to sit either side of Lexi so we could eat our meals.

Our family stayed with us whilst we ate, we chatted about nothing in particular, I could see my family were trying to keep the mood light after Lexi's heavy speech. By the time we were finished, Chloe and my mom had already started cleaning the cooking equipment, there was music on in the background and when a particular catchy song came on Chloe turned it up and started dancing as she dried the dishes, I was smiling at her as she tried to get my mom to dance with her.

"Chloe I don't dance you know that" she laughed hysterically at Chloe. She was laughing with her more than at her.

"You dance with Edward" she reminded her.

"Yeah, I let him pull me around. I don't do anything but follow" she giggled.

"Well this isn't that kind of dancing" Chloe smiled and nudged my mom's hip with her own, my mom couldn't help herself she nudged her back "see" she laughed and she danced around the room to put the dishes away. I finished the last of my meal and stood up to give my mom the plate. I then grabbed my own towel and joined my best friend dancing around the room. Elizabeth and Lexi were giggling as they watched us. Eddie, Jacob and my dad were all smiling widely too and my mom was just refusing to participate.

"Come on momma" I giggled and tried to pull her with me.

"No" she laughed again, I saw my dad move and he was behind Bella in a second, his hands going to her hips and he turned her around to face him, he grinned at her knowingly. "Seriously Edward?" she laughed as he started dancing around the room with her. Chloe and I continued as my parents twirled in the kitchen.

"You have such a fun family" Lexi laughed to Beth.

"It's your family now too" Eddie told her, picking her up from her chair and putting one arm around her waist and holding the other one out as if they were ballroom dancing, only she was tiny so her legs were dangling towards the ground as he danced around the room with her, she giggled infectiously.

"Dancing is so much fun!" she laughed.

"Jakey!" Beth called, standing on a stool. I watched as my husband sighed and did a small eye roll as if to say no. "Please Jakey" Beth pouted.

"You're so much like your sister" he groaned and walked over to her, taking her in his arms the way Eddie had Lexi, she giggled delightfully and wrapped her legs securely around his waist. Jacob just couldn't seem to resist Elizabeth. I smiled widely at him as he danced with my sister. He was such a sucker when it came to children, I remember him doing the same with our daughters when they were children too. We were all laughing as we danced around the kitchen; it was a shame the song had to stop because I knew Beth and Lexi were enjoying it immensely.

"Alright kid songs over" Jacob said and put Elizabeth on her feet, she was still laughing but she curtsied towards him and he humoured her by bowing, she giggled harder.

"That was fun! I like having you around, you make momma and daddy smile" Beth told us. I smiled back at my baby sister.

"We're just happy to have all our children in one place" Bella answered her, stepping away from Edward and kneeling in front of Beth. Beth giggled and threw her arms around our mother in a hug.

Chloe and I finished the dishes whilst my parents put Elizabeth and Lexi to bed, they had been exhausted after their day's activities, Chloe had told me that even though they had been waiting for Lexi's sisters to show up, they had been playing on the beach and in the water all day.

Jacob and I sat with my parents and Eddie and Chloe for a while before heading to bed a few hours later.

"I love seeing you smiling like that" Jacob said as he undressed for bed, I looked up from the dressing table where I was taking my jewellery and makeup off. I hadn't even realised I had been smiling as I was doing it. I was thinking about seeing Jacob dance with Beth.

"I still smile" I frowned at him.

"I know you do but you love your family, and I don't blame you. You're at your happiest when you're with them" he said pulling the covers back and climbing under the thin sheet. I quickly finished taking my rings off except my wedding and engagement ring and crawled into the bed next to him.

"I wouldn't be happy if you weren't here too" I said, feeling the need to remind him, it wasn't just my family, it was seeing him with them that made me happy.

"I know Ness" he chuckled and reached to turn off the bedside lamp. He sighed in contentment and closed his eyes.

"But you're right, I love being with them and Elizabeth is so much more than I ever imagined. I love her so much already" I explained and tucked myself into his side. He wrapped his arm around me, hugging me to him.

"I know you do. Part of me wishes we can stay so you get to be a sister again but I wouldn't want to intrude on the life Edward and Bella have built here"

"They wouldn't mind. I am their daughter" I smiled, I loved the idea of staying, if Jacob would agree to it maybe we could go live on Isle Esme for a while, that way I wouldn't be far from my sister or my parents.

"I don't think it's right to ask them, it was their idea" Jacob said to me softly. Maybe he was right.

There was a small knock on the door and I quickly pulled the sheet up to cover my torso, I was only wearing a bra and underwear.

"Come in" I said awkwardly. My dad was smiling as he entered.

"100 years Nessie, im used to the fact you have sex" he said then winked at me. I blushed, despite the fact he was right.

"Eddie and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation" he began. I mentally groaned, he didn't think I would push him to let me live here did he? Was he here to tell me no?

"Renesmee" he said softly. "You are my daughter, I love you more than life itself, I would love nothing more than for you to stay here with us. Believe it or not Eddie and Chloe feel the same, they've missed you and Eddie was serious when he said he wanted to relocate nearer you. You and Eddie are more than just brother and sister, you grew up incredibly close, you act more like twins than regular siblings, Eddie completes you as you complete him, you two will always have that special bond, it doesn't matter how many more siblings you obtain over the years to come, you two will always be the eldest and so after a very quick conversation; Eddie and I agreed with your mother and Chloe to give Esme and a builder a call and build you two your own homes on this island, that way you can come whenever you please and you can both stay here as long as you wish whilst Elizabeth grows up."

"You'll let us stay?" I gasped.

"As long as you wish" he smiled at me softly. I reached to hug my father, not caring that I was practically naked, I couldn't wear pyjamas to bed with Jacob in this heat, our body temperatures were just far too hot in them. He didn't seem to mind, he returned my hug willingly. We pulled away and my father gave me a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room and closing the door.

"What do you think?" I asked turning to my husband.

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy. You won't miss our children?" he asked.

"Of course I will, but I don't get to see them all the time now anyway, and this way we can see Sarah more often. We'll live closer to her and it's only for a few years, what's is a few years to us?" I asked her. I didn't get to see Sarah as often as my other 5 children and I missed her, this way she'd be able to visit often and we could see her.

"I suppose spending the next few years with your parents and brother isn't the worst idea you've ever had." He smiled at me. I smiled back and kissed his lips in thanks.

"At least we'll get our own house" he grinned and rolled on top of me, careful not to put his weight on me. I hummed as he kissed my jaw and neck. I flipped him over so I was sitting across his stomach.

"Thank you" I told him sincerely.

"What for love?" he frowned, as if he didn't know.

"Everything" I told him, "for the past one hundred and twenty four years" I added and put my chest to his so my face was millimetres from his. He smiled the smile I love so much.

"Here's to the next one hundred years" he grinned as he rolled me back over and started to attack me with his kisses.

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**I never planned in this story to have Eddie and Nessie move to the island but when I was writing this chapter I just didn't want to ever write the chapter when they went home. My Nessie is a family girl at heart and wouldn't spend too much time away from any of them so this chapter just wrote itself. This story will of course still focus on Beth but now she gets her big brother and sister in her childhood and the idea of that had me rewriting the entire future plot line. I will remind you though this story is a short story in comparison to my others. It won't be any longer than 10-20 chapters. **

**Before you all start asking, you will hear more about Eddie's son, that was something I wanted to do to pass on the Edward Cullen name ;) I realised I couldn't just end it with Eddie. Thank you for the amazing response to last chapter too :) I've had quite a few requests to tell Allesandra's story in full so I'm working on something small for you guys and I'll tell you more about it soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Bella Cullen**

It had been two weeks since Lexi had come to live with us and her sisters still hadn't come to see her. I was starting to worry something had happened to them but Edward assured me that as far as he could tell the Nelifia didn't punish by association unless a mermaid had murdered another one of their kind. Her sisters were probably just scared to come visit her, maybe they wanted her to settle in before making her emotional, he wasn't sure.

Nessie and Eddie were still here and today was the day Esme and Carlisle were sailing in with a contracted builder to plan their houses on the island. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited that my children were going to be staying with us on isle Isabella. Edward and I had been here on our own for too long, it felt like we were a family again, this time with 6 kids rather than just the 2. It was almost overwhelming to think about. I remember my human days when all I wanted was Edward, I didn't want children, I certainly didn't want 4 of them. Now I had 3 of my own and Lexi was more captivating by the day. Edward and I hadn't spent much time with her or her siblings before she came to us. They were Beth's friends and we trusted her to tell us if anything was wrong. The day Lexi was banished I felt an overwhelming urge to protect her and love her. Since then Lexi and I had bonded immensely. As Beth got to know her brother and sister, I got to know Lexi, she was such an enchanting little girl, so full of ideas and life. It was about a week after she started staying with us that I truly started seeing her as my daughter, she saw it too. Edward hadn't bonded with her as much though; it concerned me that he didn't see her as our daughter yet. I already loved her and would protect her with my life but Edward didn't seem to love her as much, at least not yet. I never imagined I'd adopt a child, especially when Eddie made it obvious we could have our own but I loved the experience.

Lexi seemed to settle into the human life well, she was excited to explore new things and although she was upset that she couldn't swim the way she used to she would often tell me that the 'human' world was so much more interesting and exotic to her. She had been arranged into a marriage the minute she was born but she was secretly glad that she didn't have to marry that merman, that she had a choice now and a chance to grow up. She wouldn't be pressured to bore sons, she would be able to live as a human, something she wasn't given the privilege as others of her kind were.

"Girls wake up, your grandma and grandpa will be here very soon" I said to Beth and Lexi who were fast asleep in Beth's double bed. Beth's eyes opened immediately, a huge smile spreading across her face and she jumped out of bed. She loved Esme and Carlisle, ever since she met them when she was four months old she had been asking me when they were coming back to see her. In fact she'd been asking me that about every family member she'd met so far, especially Esther. They had a bond I couldn't even begin to describe, the heart of that being that they were the only two female Luna Bambini to have ever existed.

Beth dressed and Lexi woke up lazily and got herself ready. I left the room to make Lexi, Nessie and Jake breakfast.

"Good morning momma" Beth said happily as she came over to the kitchen area.

"Good morning baby girl" I smiled and placed a plate of eggs in the middle of the island. She frowned at it.

"I wonder what happened if I ate that" she said.

"Don't do it little sister. Although it tastes alright you won't like the feeling of it leaving your body" Eddie said entering the room. She frowned at him deeper.

"Like pooping?" she asked. I couldn't hide my smile, Eddie laughed.

"No little sister, like puking" he clarified.

"Ew" she grumbled. "Yeah im not trying any of that"

"Our body doesn't digest it. Although it doesn't taste bad like it does to vampires it's definitely not compatible with our bodies. I think it goes back to the fact the witches that created us wanted to give us human food and for it to be compatible but it didn't work, they only made us like the taste of it" Eddie explained. "At least that's what Esther thinks, a lot of things went wrong with the witches spells; she remembers them shouting after all the tests they put her through"

"They made her do tests?" Beth asked her brother sadly, she clearly didn't like the thought of Esther in pain.

"Let's not tell the 6 year old horror stories at breakfast" Edward said coming into the kitchen, I involuntary smiled at seeing him, he had been swimming and his bronze hair was wet and messy on his head. I was suddenly glad I had a shield around my head as I mentally undressed him with my eyes. He caught onto me staring at him and raised his eyebrows in response. If I could have blushed I definitely would be scarlet. Luckily Lexi saved the day by walking into the kitchen asking for food. I looked away from my all too gorgeous husband and gave her a plate to help herself to the eggs and bacon on the table.

"Momma" Beth asked nervously.

"Yes sweetie?" I asked her with a frown, why did she sound nervous?

"I know you're probably going to say no but I promised Lexi I'd ask" she began; Lexi swallowed her food and looked innocently between us. "We were talking and we were wondering if you'd let us to go Rio." She said quickly.

"You mean go to the mainland?" I asked. She nodded slowly.

"Just for a day. I wanted to show her the lights and ive never really been there either, only to hunt and you always kept me away from the city. I thought maybe just a day or so and we'd be ok with you there" she ranted. I mentally panicked. My little girl wanted to go the main land? I thought she loved living on the island why did she want to go to civilisation where there was crime and abuse and nothing natural anymore? "I still want to live here momma; I just want to show her Rio. She's got to go there eventually anyway, it will be fun" Beth assured me as if she knew what I was doing in my head. She knew me too well. I knelt down in front of her, she rested her hand on my cheek and I was flashing back to when Renesmee was this small and the only way she spoke to me was by touching my cheek. Beth wasn't doing this to talk to me though; she was doing it to comfort me.

"I think it will be good for them" Edward said to me, I looked up at him standing behind Beth. "It will help in school too; if they've been to the city it will be easier to teach them. Call it a field trip Bella" he assured me. When he put it like that it didn't seem so bad.

"Ok" I sighed. Beth smiled widely. It was inevitable that the girls had to leave the island; Beth had only left a few times to hunt. She preferred Edward and I bring her back blood in bottles so she could drink from the fridge but she had been on the main land of Brazil before, she's been in the outskirts of Rio, just not in the centre of the city.

"Can we go today momma?" Lexi squealed, it took me by surprise that she called me 'momma'. Her excitement dropped and her face fell as she realised what she said. "I mean- I mean Bella" she said extremely quietly and looked away, she looked like she was about to cry. I was immediately at her side.

"You can call me momma if you want sweetheart. You're already my daughter" I told her and kissed her temple. She looked up at me in surprise.

"Really?" she asked her voice sounding happier.

"Of course baby girl" I smiled warmly at her. She reached to hug me and I lifted her from the chair and into my arms. As much as I wanted Lexi to feel comfortable and to see me as someone who takes care of her I felt slightly guilty that she was calling me momma already, it was almost disrespectful to her real mother. I knew she'd never see her birth mother again but even if I couldn't see Renesmee for 100 years, I would always be her mother and would be hurt if she started calling someone else 'momma' instead of me but at the same time grateful that someone was taking care of her.

"My real momma was never really a momma to me, when I was physically 4 she stopped feeding me and I was forced to take care of myself. That's what happens to us, when we don't need our mothers to take care of us, we take care of ourselves because our mothers are often having more babies and they need to take care of them instead. My daddy was different though, he took care of me when my momma didn't, like he knew she didn't have the time so he made up for it" she told me leaning back to look at my face, I smiled at her. From what she had told us so far her father seemed like such an amazing man, to have gone against his tradition and the law to protect his daughter. Her mother didn't seem quite as caring and it made me feel a little less guilty about my earlier worries. If Lexi's mother had stopped caring long ago it wasn't such a big deal that she was calling me 'momma', in fact I think all Lexi ever wanted was a mother.

"You can share my momma Lexi, I already told you you're my sister" Beth smiled up at Lexi in my arms. Lexi smiled down at her just as the doorbell went.

"Grandma!" Beth called. It was just as Nessie walked out the door, I smiled as her face lit up, it wasn't just Beth that ran to the door, both Nessie and Eddie did too. I was giggling when Eddie opened the door and all three of my kids collided with Esme. A smile lit up on her face and she laughed as she hugged them back tightly and kissed all three of them over and over again. I let Lexi down and Edward and I slowly walked over to the door as Nessie moved over to hug Carlisle. As the hugs went around I noticed Lexi was standing back from us so I walked over to her and I took her hand.

"It's ok, come meet your new grandparents" I smiled at her. She looked up at me as if she was nervous. "Don't be scared. Esme is the sweetest woman you will ever meet, trust me" I told her.

"Sweeter than you?" she asked as if it wasn't possible, I chuckled.

"Yeah" I smiled and brought her over. Esme and Carlisle were smiling widely as they interacted with Nessie, Jake, Eddie, Chloe and Beth. Esme saw me coming back over and her eyes fell to the child at my side.

"Oh this must be Little Lexi" Esme said softly, she knelt in front of Lexi, who was slightly behind my leg. "You are such a beautiful little lady." She cooed and Lexi's face lit up into a smile. "My name is Esme, or just grandma. I am sorry to hear about what happened to you but im so happy that you are finding happiness in our family." She added, Lexi dropped my hand and took a step away from her security and into the arms of Esme. Esme smiled wider and hugged her new granddaughter.

After a few hours of catching up with Esme and Carlisle they got down to planning the houses for Nessie and Eddie.

"Girls do you want to go into Rio?" I asked them.

"Yes!" they both shouted in unison. They rushed off to their bedroom to get ready and I turned to my other children.

"Are you coming?" I asked.

"Nah Im helping Esme plan our house" Nessie smiled.

"I hope it's not going to be a mansion" I laughed.

"Not at all Bella, they will be cottages, this house will still be the main house" Esme answered.

"We're ready, we're ready!" Beth called and they both skipped into the room with shoes on, it was strange to see them both with shoes. I had never seen Lexi with them and im sure she was probably uncomfortable wearing them and I knew Beth absolutely hated wearing things on her feet, she went everywhere bare foot. They also had little purses which made me smile a little, they looked so grown up. They were hand in hand and seeing them next to each other like that, they could easily be siblings, not in the way that Renesmee and Beth were clearly sisters; Lexi and Beth didn't look alike but the way they acted together was like they had known each other their entire life. Lexi also looked older than Beth but I knew that would change this time next year. Lexi would look like the younger sibling.

"Edward" I called and saw him and Jacob talking with Carlisle, I hated to break up the bromance.

"Coming" he said and walked over to us.

"You don't have to come" I said "I can handle it" I told him, I was lying slightly, honestly I was petrified of going on my own but Carlisle and Jacob were two of his closest friends who he hadn't seen in a while.

"Of course I do, family day out" he grinned at the girls. "Any of our other children coming?" he called a little louder, I heard a laugh from Eddie who just walked into the room.

"Father, this island is awesome; I haven't been here since we made Teddy. I want to go explore" he told him, he earned a slap from Chloe as he said 'made Teddy'. "It's true" he rolled his eyes. "And we didn't do much exploring" he said with a raise eyebrow. I think Chloe would have blushed if she could, I giggled.

"Alright then just the four of us. Are you ready?" I asked them.

"Yes!" Lexi shouted excitedly.

By the time we reached the dock in Rio it was midday and Lexi was hungry for lunch, they were both ridiculously excited as Edward tied the boat.

"Girls girls, calm down." I told them. "Listen to me" I added. "You mustn't ever run off understand?" I asked them as we climbed out the boat; they were both brimming with excitement and nodded furiously. "Im serious" I glared at them. "And hold our hands" Lexi grabbed mine and Beth took Edwards as they bounced on the spot.

As we got closer and closer to the city I could see the excitement on the girls faces light up even more; that alone made the entire trip worth it. Just to see them so happy and excited, even though I was scared, they definitely weren't.

"Everything will be fine" Edward said and kissed my temple. The girls were holding hands between us but he reached across them and they giggled when they got squashed together. After we bought Lexi some food we gave the girls some money and let them lead us into every shop possible. Lexi couldn't speak Portuguese; she had forgotten how to speak languages when she was made completely human. She was given the ability to speak English but if she wanted to speak any other language she'd have to learn the old fashioned way but Beth could speak it fluently thanks to Edward so Beth did all the talking to the shopkeepers when Lexi bought something. The bags were then handed to Edward and I to carry.

The day went surprisingly fast and I learnt to relax quite quickly. I had been irrational with my worries, the girls loved the experience and it wouldn't be so bad to come back again; if they wanted to go shopping again, I would let them be ordinary little girls. We were on the island most of the time, I was giving Beth the childhood I always wanted for my children and there was no harm in the odd 'field trip' as Edward called it.

It was getting dark and all the lights and music had started in the streets. Edward and I walked behind the girls, my arm wrapped around his waist and his around my shoulder as we watched the girls enjoying themselves. I laughed when Lexi dared Beth to go up to a random person and say 'I love you' in Portuguese. Best part was she actually did it. Luckily it was to a little boy though, he just looked incredibly confused and a little bit flustered; Beth wasn't exactly an ugly child. Lexi was laughing for a good 10 minutes as we made our way further into the musical streets of the city. People were dancing around us and singing and kissing and just having a good time and the mood was infectious. Edward and I were stealing kisses every time the girls weren't looking; we were always touching each other but keeping our eyes on the girls. It wasn't until Edward groaned impatiently and pulled me into his chest that my eyes left the girls for the first time since we arrived. As Edward kissed me, my mind went blank, it only lasted for a few seconds but it was enough. By the time we had pulled away we were both laughing, I expected Beth and Lexi to be laughing too or at least shaking their heads in disgust like children do when they saw their parents kiss but they weren't standing at our sides like they were meant to be doing. I scanned the busy square and I couldn't see them, if my heart could beat it would be pounding in my chest. Both Edward and I looked around frantically but neither of us could see them.

I went into full scale panic mode. Beth was not prepared to look after herself, Edward and I had sheltered her so much on the island. Sure she could survive in the woods, on an island on her own or in the wilderness, in fact that's where she thrived but in the middle of a city? Right in the middle of civilisation where there were no trees or animals only people and buildings? No way, Beth wasn't prepared for that. And Lexi, Lexi was barely human; she had been human for two weeks and never even seen a city before let alone been in one. She had been in our care for two weeks and she was already in trouble.

"Beth!" Edward screamed, some people looked over to us like we were crazy. I started breathing faster, despite the fact I had no need for it. It was out of habit. I felt my shield flutter anxiously. I hadn't felt myself lose control of it like this in decades but it was a result of my fear. Edward gripped my hand in support and we tried to push our way through the crowd to find our daughters. It was seconds before I saw Beth's unique colour hair, it couldn't have been anyone else with that blonde and red hair. I ran to my child in desperation.

"Momma!" Beth squealed in shock when I grabbed her.

"Oh my god Beth" I sighed in pure relief as I hugged her. "Why did you walk off? I told you not to walk off, where is Lexi?!" I asked her, more relieved than angry with her.

"I don't know, I was watching you kissing daddy and she was gone so I tried to find her but I couldn't" she explained as she hugged me. "Sorry I made you scared momma" she said into my neck.

"It's ok baby girl but we need to find Lexi!" I said, my panic returning.

"I'll find her" Edward said strongly. "Just don't let go of Elizabeth"

"I wouldn't dream of it" I answered and held Beth even tighter to my chest in despair.

* * *

**Very short chapter but it ends on a cliff hanger so I will be updating soon to make up for it :) **


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